There's something strangely sorrowful about the hurried disappearance of the TouchPad.

Clearly, there were those who wanted it to succeed. Not all of them work at HP. But the news that you can buy the machine for a song--or even a mere bar (tab) or two--has struck many as hasty and defeatist.

My irregular reading of the HP forums has, though, brought to my attention the beginning of a fight back, one that might make you think twice about buying a TouchPad, even if it's only for posterity's sake.

The T-shirt features a picture of Leo Apotheker, HP's CEO, with a large red cross over his face. I do not believe this red cross has anything to do with the one that tries to save people's lives in difficult areas of the world.

Indeed, this T-shirt reads: SAVE WEBOS NOW! GET RID OF HP.

Unlike the TouchPad, this T-shirt seems to have been designed in something of a hurry. However, Merphie, who hails from Oklahoma, claims he is taking preorders at an undetermined price. (One hopes it will be less than the $100 you'll have to pay for a TouchPad.)

WebOS developers seem a sturdy and humor-filled crowd. The first post after Merphie's announcement read: "You said now you're taking PRE orders?"